He ran through the halls of the keep, books in his arms as his green and golden robe flapped behind him in his rush. He weaved through the other magi, occasionally bumping into someone with a quick apology before continuing in his hurry. Finally he skidded to a stop outside a large door, opening it as he gasped for breath from sprinting.
"Conintor, you're late." A man said gruffly, sitting behind a large desk with a small mantis hissing and raising its pincers angrily toward the young magi.
"Sorry master Faux." Conintor said, sitting in the large plush chair in front of the desk. He sat, glancing nervously at the mantis as it hissed again. That creature had never liked him.
"This is your last year before you finish your training, Conintor. I suggest you take your studies more seriously." The man frowned unhappily.
"I know- I'm sorry. I was taking care of my sister, sir." Conintor said, bowing in his chair respectfully.
The man's eyebrows rose in sympathy and he let out a soft sigh. "I will let it go this last time, boy. We will get started on our studies for today." The magi brought up a large leather bound book as Conintor sat back with a sigh in the chair. This was going to be a long lesson.

Conintor walked down the hallway later that day, exhausted from his lesson- his master had really wrung him out that day- he didn't think he had a bit of earth magic left in his body. A small group of girls stopped in front of him, blocking his path. He looked down at them in surprise, wondering why they were looking at him with such odd expressions. Girls were so odd.
"Go ahead- as him." One of the girls pushed another forward, who looked up at him with wide fearful eyes. He was tall- one of the taller magi in the keep, but far from the tallest. Luckily he was well built as well so he didn't look like a giant beanstalk.
The girl stammered uneasily before shoving a note at his chest. Conintor looked at it in confusion and opened it, reading another love note asking him to go out.
He sighed in frustration, and looked down at the girl. She was pretty yeah, but like always he felt no attraction. He folded the note back up, looking down at her with soft green eyes. "I'm sorry." He said, handing the note back.
The girl looked up at him, her wide eyes filling with tears before she burst out in sobs, her friends glaring at him as they comforted her and walked away. Conintor frowned and shook his head in dismay. It was always the same thing- a girl asked him out, and sobbed when she got rejected. You'd think after a while they'd take a hint that he wasn't interested after a while.
He looked around at the crowd around him, hoping no one had seen the scene that had just happened… He saw only one person looking, another girl with blond hair down to her shoulders and purple eyes. She didn't look angry- just… curious. Hopefully she wasn't thinking of asking him out too.
He growled in frustration and walked down the hall again, a frown on his face as he held his books to him with hands so tight his knuckles turned white.

"Arya, I'm home." Conintor said, setting his books down on the table beside the door as he looked around the little cabin. His sister walked out of the kitchen, wiping her hands off with a cloth from washing dishes.
"Hello, Con. Ooh, look at that frown." She said, imitating a deep frown and then chuckled. "That kind of a day?"
Conintor only let out a growl, sitting down with a sigh in a large green chair. What a long day. "Another girl asked me out."
"Well that's because you're so cute. Why don't you go out with one of them so they'll leave you alone?" Arya chuckled and walked over to him, handing him a bowl steaming with soup.
Conintor looked up at his younger sister and smiled gratefully. She was only 15, training to be a magi herself, not to mention taking care of a household. Since their mother had left and never come back, they had been on their own. Luckily they were surviving through his ability to meld magic into weapons. The ability came in handy when it came to magis looking to go on a long journey.
"You have an order, by the way. A man dropped of a sickle earlier. He asked if you could make it so that it never cut flesh- only plants." His sister pointed over to the curved blade, which was lying against the wooden wall across the room.
"Should be able to." Conintor nodded, taking a sip of the hot soup- as always, her cooking was fantastic. Good thing, because if he had to cook they'd either starve or eat burnt meat their whole lives.
"So, you didn't answer my question." His sister walked over and sat in the chair beside his.
"What question?" He said before taking another sip of soup.
"Why don't you go out with one of the girls that ask you? You're really handsome you know, you could probably get anyone to date you."
Conintor shrugged. "I never really feel anything for them."
"What do you mean 'feel anything'? Nothing, at all?" His sister rose her eyebrows curiously.
"No, nothing. It's not that they're ugly, they're quite pretty usually, it's just… " He looked up thoughtfully and sighed in dismay. "I don't know."
Arya looked at him in concern for a bit. "That's weird, Con."
Conintor looked over at her uneasily. "You think?"
"Well yeah- when someone asks me out I always feel at least a little bit attracted to them- and cute boys are… well.. cute, I guess." She tried to explain. "You mean, you've never been attracted to any of the girls that have asked you out?"
Conintor looked at her hesitantly and shook his head.
Arya sighed. "You're kind of odd, big brother. Well, I'm going to keep cleaning dishes. Bring me the bowl when you're done, please." The girl stood up and walked back into the kitchen.
Conintor looked down at his soup nervously, taking another sip as he wondered if something was wrong with him.